Today, OMNI Television announced OMNI.2in Ontario will now deliver exclusively ethnic-focused content. Beginning Monday, Jan. 21, the refreshed schedule for OMNI.2 will carry an additional 35 hours of ethnic-focused programming, and feature original multilingual documentaries, exclusive Canadian coverage of such favourites as the Indian Film Industry Awards, and popular Bollywood programming. OMNI.2 is the only conventional station in the Ontario market to deliver all ethnic-focused programming.
With an increased focus on content geared towards the Asian and South Asian communities, the new programming schedule reflects the changing face of Canada. As reported by the latest Census data from Statistics Canada released in October 2012 on the country’s accelerated language identity, more than 1.8 million people in Toronto reported speaking a non-English language most often at home and among those individuals, approximately one-third spoke one of five languages: Cantonese, Punjabi, Chinese, Urdu, and Tamil.*
“OMNI Television has a legacy of being entrenched in the diverse communities throughout Canada and our strategy to program all ethnic content on OMNI.2 in Ontario reaffirms our commitment to serving Canada’s multilingual communities,” said Madeline Ziniak, National Vice-President, OMNI Television. “OMNI Television continues to be a leader – and trendsetter – in delivering multilingual programming and this refocused program schedule is designed to better reflect and meet the demands of Canada’s changing demographics with a focus on Asian and South Asian content.”
The new OMNI.2 schedule gives audiences more opportunities to watch the news that matters most to their communities – with new, regionally-focused multicultural newscasts OMNI News: Mandarin, Cantonese, South Asian, and Punjabi airing in all-new prime-time timeslots (all times Eastern). Weekdays from 5 to 10 p.m., OMNI News viewers can stay up-to-date with regional newscasts in Mandarin (5 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.), Cantonese (5:30 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m.), and Punjabi (6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.) and also South Asian community focused English-language newscasts at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Serving the growing Mandarin community, OMNI News: Mandarin Weekend Edition keeps viewers informed with local and international news on Saturdays at 4 p.m., 7 p.m., and 10 p.m.
Canada’s leader in multicultural entertainment programming, the new OMNI.2 gives fans of Indian cinema even more of their favourite films with additional weeknight prime-time broadcasts making OMNI.2 the premiere destination for all-things Bollywood including feature films, exclusive event coverage, and original series Bollywood Boulevard. Additionally, OMNI Television’sSignature Series featuring original award-winning multilingual documentaries moves to a new prime-time slot Sundays at 7 p.m.ET. The refreshed schedule on OMNI.2 will also carry Shahs of Sunset, the highly-buzzed about docu-series from Emmy® Award-winning Ryan Seacrest Productions, that takes a look inside the lives of six, young, Persian socialites living in Los Angeles.
And with Chinese New Year just around the corner, as Canada’s premier destination for cultural event programming OMNI.2celebrates the year of the snake with a lineup of in-depth news coverage of festivities across Canada, along with movies and specials in Mandarin and Cantonese from February 9 to 17. Some of the highlights include Travelling in Chinese New Year, which explores how different regions across China welcome in the New Year, and a special broadcast of the popular CCTV Chinese New Year Gala from Beijing.
OMNI Television continues to be the leading multilingual broadcaster in North America, with the new OMNI.2 schedule featuring content in more than 20 languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Tamil, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Farsi.
*Source: Statistics Canada, “Linguistic Characteristics of Canadians”, released October 2012
